Hopkins County high school junior Blake Herring recently returned home from Kentucky Farm Bureau’s Institute for Future Agricultural Leaders (IFAL). Herring and 45 other high school students from around the state attended the five-day summer leadership conference, held June 17-21 at the University of Kentucky.

An identical IFAL conference was also held June 10-14 at Murray State University for an additional 46 students.

IFAL is designed to expose high school students to college life while helping them explore the different fields of study for careers in agriculture. During the week, attendees gained a better understanding of the nature and needs of the agriculture industry, saw how basic and applied science is utilized in agriculture and learned of the political process used to develop agricultural policy.